Monthly Archive: January 2009

21

I’m quite happy traveling these days. I think I’ve spent at least a full day in the airport since Christmas. This one trip was a quick one, but a good one. I headed out to Seattle to help throw a shower for Jamie, who is expecting a baby girl in February. It was a bit unlike a traditional shower – guys and ladies were there, there was no ‘smell the faux poopey diaper’ game, and we served liquor and chinese food instead of tea.

By Sunday I was a little tired, but got a minute to see some of my friends – brunch with one group, and an afternoon with Reagan, who I hadn’t seen since her wedding in October.

Whenever I go to Seattle it’s always a little hard to leave. Driving down to Alki on a sunny Sunday, with a view of the Sound and good music on the radio, I can’t help but think about what a great place it was to live. NYC is great, too. I’m lucky to be torn in such a way.

16

I haven’t written in a couple of weeks. I had a birthday (it was great – a LOT of cupcakes), and am gearing up for two weeks of traveling from east to west to east to further east and back. But life is good – I’m running three-four times a week, I’m loving my apartment, and just enjoying winter in NYC.

I also have a job I love, albeit one that requires me to be on-call three out of every nine weeks. This week we thought that just meant a few winter weather conference calls. We were wrong.

I was at the dentist yesterday and saw on my blackberry (right before heading in for the cleaning) an e-mail saying “medium aircraft in Hudson.” Now, my first thought was that it was at most a prop commuter plane – to me, that’s a medium plane. That’s the kind of thing that can usually be managed on the scene, or with a small mobilization at the office. Anything that flies out of a commercial airport? That’s a large plane to me. So I sat down to get my teeth cleaned, knowing that they’d call me in if needed. Then, with the pick in my mouth and the hygienist talking to me, I overheard the women in front shouting in Spanish – agua! En agua! After the cleaning I called work, and they said finish with the dentist and then come back in.

Twenty minutes later I was walking into the office, and it was an image I hadn’t seen since probably the crazy storms of April 2007. Everyone was talking, on the phone, on the Nextel. We were trying to keep all of the information straight, putting it into report. By then the reports were coming in, but hard to process – I’m sorry, NO ONE was killed? NO ONE was critically injured? Wait, huh?

Some staff went to La Guardia, and most of us stayed at work to keep managing things from there (like trying to find a barge crane to life the plane out of the water, for example). It was interesting and a bit chaotic, but at the same time amazing to witness and be part of. I do really love my job, especially when the emergency turns out instead to be a story about how amazing people are.

I got home around 10:30 last night (not bad, considering we though we’d be there until 6 this morning) and called my mom. Funny coincidence – the incredible pilot who saved 155 lives yesterday? He is from my hometown. That’s right. Danville’s most awesome claim to fame is no longer Christie Turlington – It’s Captain Sully!

2

The wonderful day got even better when Jon Mark came over tonight and we ate pizza and salad and played old school video games. Remember Paper Boy? Dr. Mario? GALAGA?

So good. So, so good.

In other news, I have two races scheduled for the first half of the year – a 10K in March and a half marathon in May. I don’t start really “training” until February, but I’m trying to get my body into the running mode by getting out there about four times a week. It’s a bit tough, but not as hard as I thought it would be. We’ll see, though, as there are many cold and wet mornings between now and May 3…

1

I hope you all had a wonderful holiday. I had a great time – a friend and I went to a party with her husband, then left at 10:15 to head to Central Park for the midnight four mile run. It was freezing – and I’m not exaggerating. It was 17 degrees, with a wind chill of about 3 when we began our run under some gorgeous fireworks. But by the end of mile one, we were pretty warmed up – enough to shed jackets. The end of mile two greeted us with sparkling cider – which was frozen and slushy, since they pour it ahead of time, and which I might try to do at home, because slushy sparkling cider is yummy!

About that time I started to get a little tired, but Erin was motivating, and pointed out that if I made it halfway through mile three I’d just have fifteen minutes of running left. As we rounded the curve and had about five minutes left, there were a few more fireworks. The park was lovely – quiet, beautiful with a dusting of snow, and really dark.

It was such a great way for me to start the year. I felt healthy last night, and feel good this morning – not hung over (not that the occasional alcoholic indulgence isn’t fabulous, because it is), well rested, ready to do some yoga and go meet a few friends for brunch. Just good. I’m in the right frame of mind to make 2009 great.